SUPER MELODY . PRODUCER . COMPOSER

My name is James Cecil and I'm a composer and producer based in Melbourne.

I'm very excited about the Camo Disco concept, and I just might be the perfect person to build you a super-lush electropical junglescape, filled with electric synthetic animal sounds and futuristic organic laser rhythms that will unleash the inner disco monkey in homo sapiens of all ages. I have two sons under three, so I know a bit about monkeys!

I've done a number of large-scale museum and gallery installations over the last few years (see this website's homepage for more details). Recently I produced and co-wrote the music for Darren Sylvester's giant disco dance floor installation "For You" at the NGV's "Melbourne Now" exhibition - apparently the most photographed work ever in the gallery due to its viral instagram popularity. If you didn't get onto that dancefloor yourself, find the score we composed and I produced below, and imagine a giant lightup disco dancefloor piled up with hip-shaking toddlers and clusters of Asian teenagers taking selfies.

As a musician I first found success as part of the band Architecture In Helsinki, and I've since gone on to release my own music under the name of Super Melody, alongside producing records for many independent Melbourne artists. I also have an MA in Sound Art Installation from RMIT and lecture in Music Production at RMIT and Melbourne Polytechnic.

I'd be thrilled to compose a sketch for you on spec as I've already been brainstorming what I imagine would be fun for this installation. Here's my elevator pitch and a mood board to add some colour to the concept

<< ELECTROPICAL JUNGLE >>

Imagine a jungle soundscape filled with the sounds of what seem to be purring leopards and warbling exotic birds, but are in fact completely analog-synthesized signals that morph into abstract musical rhythms. A digital rainstorm crashes over us and as the rain transforms into shimmering electronic synth washes, tribal drum machines form a circle around you and soon we're all in a voodoo disco dance trance...

Stylisically the music would draw from my love of Brazilian music (especially the 'Tropicalia' movement of the 60s and 70s, comprosed of artists like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Os Mutantes), modern electronic dancefloor music from around the world (Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, India), classic disco and the incredible wildlife recordings of artists like Chris Watson and Francisco Lopez.

I would create what Muzak corporation trademarked as a "Stimulus progression", cycling through moments of forest soundscape, the emergence of synthesized animal life, the buildup of eclectic dance rhythms to bring up the party vibes, and then a descent back into ambient music and soundscapes. Of course once you mix ambient music and nature recordings you tread the narrow precipice above awful hippy chillout CDs... but it's a path would I tread with confidence, inspired by the great early masters of ambient electronic music like Klaus Schulze, whose pioneering synthscapes have spawned a million vapid massage soundtracks.

Please listen to some of the examples of my work below, and browse the archive of other relevant projects I've worked on, including sound design for interactive installations and animations. And do take me up on my offer to submit some original music sketches if you'd like to get a better idea of how this would manifest.

Here are some examples of my work that I feel might be relevant to this concept...